from tweet to nonprofit: how the editors tea club came to be
In 2021, the pandemic was in full swing. After a year of cancellations of in-person events, Erin Servais, founder of the Editors Tea Club (ETC), realized how much she missed connecting with other editors.
“I thought it would be nice to get edibuddies together for chitchat and connection,” she said.
In May 2021, she published a tweet asking if anyone would like to meet for tea and editorial chitchat the next week. She thought maybe seven people would answer, two of whom would be her good friends and coworkers Crystal Shelley and Brenna Bailey-Davies.
Instead, by the second day, about 80 people had asked to attend.
“I was very surprised by the enthusiasm and response,” Erin said. “It really showed that people were missing that connection. A lot of people who responded were freelance editors who were used to working from home before the pandemic. The pandemic and the rise in usage of Zoom and online meetings gave us an outlet we didn’t have before. A lot of us were eating this up.
“It was great for people who worked at companies, too, because they were used to being around people, and now they weren’t.”
That next Thursday, Erin hosted the first Virtual Tea Party. “We decided that it was a wonderful time and that we should do it again the next month, and then the next month, and the next… And here we are, two years later.”
The tea parties haven’t changed much in format from the first one. We talk about work and life in small groups and learn from each other, get to know each other, make friends, and support each other. But the group has grown far beyond monthly Virtual Tea Parties to be everything it is now.
teach-ins
One of the first big events the ETC hosted was a TEAch-In, a mini-conference for Tea Club members.
Erin organized the first TEAch-In in the span of a month. Editors had a chance to give 15-minute educational presentations. The focus was, and continues to be, on giving newer presenters an opportunity to practice speaking in front of a group in a supportive environment before they went on to present in bigger groups.
At the spring 2023 TEAch-In, presenters got a full half hour before shifting to Q&A. A Mini-TEAch-In with a panel of editors discussing the use of artificial intelligence in the editing profession was held in December 2023.
teaspoon task force
As the group kept growing, there were many things Erin wanted to do that were just more than she could handle on her own. Running ETC had become a part-time job.
She needed help.
She put a call out, and six people stepped up, forming the first Teaspoon Task Force: Jennifer Dinsmore, Pam Eidson, Alicia Chantal, Alicia Z. Ramos, Kristen Tatroe, and Kimberly Laurel.
The first order of business? To create a venue for ETC members to get together to post jobs, share resources, and offer support.
slack group
Slack became the new home of the ETC in the summer of 2022. Twitter was becoming less and less hospitable, so Erin left the site, but she mourned the loss of her robust community of fellow editors. The Slack group was a way to regain that community.
The Slack group started strong, but Erin had seen groups like ETC fade after the initial interest, so she waited and watched.
It thrived.
“I was really surprised when the tea parties got to be so popular, and I was surprised again when the same happened with the Slack group,” Erin said. “It was a beautiful thing. The ETC was something that was needed. ‘If you build it, they will come.’”
looking back
“The vibe of the community—that’s what I’m most proud of. The community is incredibly supportive and encouraging. People in the group are so kind, helpful, and giving of themselves in order to help other people in their work and in their lives. I’ve not felt that replicated anywhere else. The Editors Tea Club feels very special to me, and I hope to other people, too. I hope it feels like a safe place that they can come to. That’s what I’m most proud of—but that’s not something I did, that’s something we did.
“Mostly I roll with it,” Erin said about the way the group has grown. “I wasn’t necessarily expecting any of this to happen. It’s all kind of been a surprise and a natural evolution.
“It felt like ‘What could we accomplish next?’ with a purpose of helping and supporting other editors. That’s why we were able to start the blog and to have events like our TEAch-Ins. We came together and knew that this was something we could do and wanted to do.”
looking ahead
The ETC is currently working to become a nonprofit, which is a big step for us and a huge milestone to take the ETC from being a casual group spread by word of mouth to something more official and professional.
Quirky Questions & Answers From Erin
How did you get started in editing?
Back in high school, I started my own zine and edited articles from the students I recruited to write for it. (I got called to the principal’s office for selling copies on school grounds. Some of the content was considered, ahem, inappropriate.) Then in college, I studied journalism and edited my school’s feminist magazine.
What’s your favorite kind of editing to do? Least favorite?
Definite favorite: line editing
Definite least favorite: proofreading (Don’t even ask. I will refuse.)
What are your top three editing resources?
(Other than CMOS online and the online Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary…)
ChatGPT
The Chicago Guide to Copyediting Fiction by Amy J. Schneider
If you could pick up a new editing skill in an instant, what would it be and why?
Really what I want is to have a better memory so I don’t have to keep looking up the same rule again and again.
What editing skill do you think everyone should have?
Communication.
It’s important to know what changes to make. But, if you can’t explain why you made the changes in a kind and convincing way, then your editing skills may not matter.
What book did you read that changed your life the most?
For Christmas in the fifth grade, I asked for a dictionary, a thesaurus, and a rhyming dictionary. I got all three and nearly wore the covers off them.
If you could add a word to the dictionary, what would you add and what would it mean?
Not a word, per se, but the sound of a very cathartic scream. It would mean whatever I’m feeling at the moment.
What is your most used emoji?
Lately, it’s been this: 🫠
Historically, it’s been this: 🙄
If I’m feeling sassy… 👯♀️
Lastly, and most importantly, what’s your favorite kind of tea?
Rosemary
Jess Stampe is the Treasurer and Fundraising Task Force Coordinator of the Editor’s Tea Club, as well as a member of ACES, PEN, and the EFA. She is a nonfiction editor with over a decade of experience working on books, dissertations, theses, and marketing materials at Just Ask Jess. She specializes in developmental/structural editing, proofreading, formatting, fact-checking, and citations in APA and Chicago style. She graduated with a BA in Communications and a minor in Creative Writing from the University of Wyoming. Jess grew up in southern Louisiana, went to college in Wyoming, has a partner from South Dakota, lived in Michigan for a decade, and now calls Colorado her home. She is a voracious reader of fiction—especially historical romance, fantasy, urban fantasy, and young adult fantasy. She also loves to experiment in the kitchen, explore the outdoors, and hoard plants.
